Rev star Tom has developed a church-going habit

Tom Hollander has revealed that he has become a churchgoer since playing a beleaguered vicar in the hit BBC Two drama Rev.

The actor, 44, is returning to the role of inner-city vicar for a second series of the sitcom, which was a surprise TV success last year.

Tom told the Radio Times: “People we have met in the church since have said: ‘Thank you for making us look normal.’ Because they’re used to being treated as weirdos.

“The moment they start talking about faith or a belief in God, people start to behave as if they have got the plague.”

He said: “I believe in the idea of God now. Since doing Rev I believe in what the idea of God represents, but I can’t say anything more concrete than that.”

Asked whether he goes to church, other than for research, he said: “Occasionally, yes. It began mostly to check if I was getting it right but then I was doing it so often it became a habit.

“Since we stopped shooting I look forward to poking my nose in without it being work.”

However he said he would never consider a job in the church if the acting work dried up: “No, it would be hard to take myself seriously, wouldn’t it?…

“To go from a fictional vicar to a real vicar would be very strange. I don’t think I want to go pro.”

He said of Rev: “There is certainly something inherently funny about men wearing dresses, but we set out not to make Adam Smallbone (Tom’s character) a comedy character. In a way he’s the straight man of the show and that’s why we have been welcomed by the church because, unusually, we don’t make the priest appear ridiculous.”